


Everybody Loves Draco Malfoy

by SpuffyCarrie



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Angst and Feels, Dramedy, F/M, Light Angst, Love Potion/Spell, Room of Requirement, Some Humor, Swearing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-04
Updated: 2019-10-04
Packaged: 2020-11-23 04:56:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,089
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20886470
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SpuffyCarrie/pseuds/SpuffyCarrie
Summary: A light and slightly angsty one-shot drama set in the first few days of term at Hogwarts, Year 6.A forgotten spell Hermione finds in the library causes the whole of Gryffindor house to fall in love with Draco Malfoy - apart from Hermione herself (its accidental caster) Realising the spell went wrong because she knows she has feelings for Draco, can Hermione avoid the fallout and the wrath of Draco as he tries to cope with the persistent and amorous Gryffindors? And is he redeemable with all that's happening to him? Only time will tell.This is unbetaed, all mistakes are my own.Huge thanks to @PotionChemist for my beautiful board.





	Everybody Loves Draco Malfoy

“I’m sorry, Malfoy, I don't know what else to say, it's not like I haven't already said sorry three times!”

“Granger! You’ve cast a spell that’s made the whole of bloody Gryffindor fall in love with me! Bar you of course, which is the main blessing, I think I’d rather bludgeon myself to death with my own broomstick than deal with you like that!”

“Quite.” Hermione replied, twisting her lips into a sour smirk but she still felt a jolt of annoyance in her gut.

"Not just one, Granger, but all of them! Finnegan gave me flowers and Thomas sent me a fruit basket before breakfast! I can’t tell you how terrifying it was to have two Weasley’s mooning over me from the Gryffindor table this morning, looking like they might fancy eggs a la Draco for breakfast! And I haven’t even seen Potter yet! I dread to think what he has up his sleeve in the way of wooing! I find it hard to believe that the whole male half of Gryffindor have come out as gay over the summer and all fancy me specifically! This will not do, Granger, it won’t do at all!”

“I didn’t mean to.” She pouted, her eyes shining with barely hidden mirth as she pulled upon her bottom lip with her thumb and forefinger. She knew Harry had left the school at the crack of dawn, heading to Hogsmeade to buy a gift and couldn't help the hysteria building at the thought.

A mixed group of Gryffindor third years giggled and stared at Draco, their eyes almost shooting out like cartoon hearts.

He glanced at them with a tight-lipped smile and then back to the object of his frustration, narrowing his eyes. “Whether you meant to or not, I’m the sodding laughing-stock of Slytherin!” Draco yelled.

“I would’ve thought you’d be used to that by now?” She observed his arrogant sneer as soon as she said that and wondered why she had. She knew she was baiting him and it felt good for a moment.

He rubbed the heel of his hand against his forehead angrily. "You’re one step away Granger, just one step from me throwing you over my knee and taking recompense from your arse! You sort this out or—”

“I know, I know, your father will hear about it, change the bloody record Malfoy.”

“Record? Think it’s funny, do you? Think it's funny to bait me with muggle things I don't know about? Well, it’s your wand work which went awry, you who decided to test a spell you read in some book and allowed it to enchant a whole table of students! I’ve had to contend with them coming at me from all angles since last night and where were you?” He snapped, grinding his teeth.

“Well, actually I was researching in the—” She crossed her arms and hugged herself.

“My world is falling to pieces and you’re in the bloody library!” Draco interrupted huffily, clenching his teeth and turning to stare at Neville Longbottom as he approached with a rare purple leaping toadstool, holding it reverently in his hands.

“It’s a new species, Draco, I brought it here for you.” Neville smiled dreamily.

Draco looked from him to the toadstool several times with one eyebrow raised. “Actually, this is the first gift that's half decent, leave it at the Slytherin dorms for me, Longbottom.” He turned back to Hermione.

“Of course, Malfoy, anything for you.” Neville rushed off with a smile splitting his face.

Draco tutted as he watched him leave over Hermione's shoulder. “And I must be nice to them, did you know that? Because if I don’t, they just stand there and sob woefully, attracting the professor’s attention. I’ve already got six detentions and lost 50 points from Slytherin in the past hour, just because the teachers thought I was the one who made them cry!”

“Well, you sort of did.” She remarked, relaxing slightly, her body language not lost on Draco.

“I know I did, miss clever clogs! But not like I usually would. It's like none of them have a filter, they just take anything I say like I’ve broken their sodding hearts!” He seethes.

“I’ve been working on a counter potion but I needed some help, I need you to—” She tried to ask him for assistance, but he clearly wasn’t having any of it.

“Oh no, no, Granger,” he moved closer, towering over her menacingly while waggling a finger in her face and inching her back towards the stone wall outside the dining hall, “You got me into this situation, now you damn well get me out of it, because I have better things to do, things—" His face clouds and he stabs his finger towards her chest. "Look! Just sort it out, I don’t need people following me around like lovesick puppies, right?”

With that, he turned on his heel and pushed his way through the crowd surrounding them, giving her no time to answer.

xxxxxxxxxxxxx

Hermione had to admit, she was mildly amused by everything that had happened since the night before, when she was practicing a new spell absently at dinner she'd found in strange looking dusty old book at the back of the library. It hadn’t been in the restricted section, but she’d wondered if it had been misfiled as it didn’t look like a standard textbook, it was worn and yellowed. She’d checked it out anyway, pleased to have some new reading material and feeling unusually sly for getting it past Madame Pince without her noticing. 

Eating and reading, she’d began waving her wand under the table, practicing a spell called Efficio. From what she'd read, it enchanted an item while you thought about the property you wanted, and lifting her wand, she’d aimed it at a water goblet while the others at the table talked, planning to produce a glass of butterbeer for the whole of her house as a welcome back gift. This ill thought out action had backfired spectacularly as her attention was caught by Malfoy walking into the hall for his evening meal on the second night of the new term.

She observed how wan and pale he looked but also that his shoulders had broadened and how tall he had become. He was stunning, always had been, angelic in form rather than countenance and all she could remember thinking was how it might feel to be in his arms, kissing his plump lips which stood out from his creamy skin, instead of concentrating on her spell.

With a stuttering spark her wand sent a barely visible curl of magic into the immediate vicinity and rather than giving them butterbeer—which was her intension— it gave them all a dose of intense loving feelings for Draco Malfoy; much like Amortentia twice as bad.

She didn’t realise what was happening at first, shaking her wand as it puttered out and looking back to the book, but then she heard her fellow housemates instantly begin talking loudly about Malfoy in the strangest way. Once this began, she knew exactly what she'd done and had no idea how to reverse it.

“Have you seen Malfoy’s eyes? They’re like a smoky oyster colour, and they sit there, either side of his gorgeous nose.” Ron said first with a deep sigh, his head cocked as he stared at the object of his affection.

Hermione raised her eyebrows in shock and they almost met her hairline.

“I’d say they’re closer to silver, undulating like beaoootiful mercury.” Harry sang, his pupils dilated as he bit his lower lip and stared across the room.

Hermione froze, looking up to see Malfoy sitting alone, his head resting on an upturned palm. A second later he looked up at her with his mouth agape, as if he sensed unwanted attention, then to Potter and Weasley, sneering back at them with less gusto than he might usually. It was almost like he wasn't trying. She wondered why he was sitting alone. He seemed unfocused and his friends, if you could call them that, glanced furtively in his direction.

Ron’s eyes filled with tears and he turned back in his seat, prodding miserably at his food with his fork. “Well, that was uncalled for. I don’t know how I’ll ever have him now; he hates me! He just hates me!” He threw his fork down and placed both hands flat on the table.

“Ron, this isn’t real—” Hermione tried to stop him from standing by gripping his shoulder.

“It is! Hermione, what I feel for him is real!” Ron’s voice broke as he shrugged her off, leaving a whole plate of food as he ran sobbing from the hall.

Harry clapped his hands, rubbing them together and stood up, “Well, now he’s gone I stand a better chance, Malfoy’s pretty sexy."

Hermione groaned and wondered if any of this was really happening.

“Get in line, Potter!” Ginny screeched, pushing him back into his seat to get ahead of him.

“No, no, no! You come back here! It isn’t real Harry, Ginny! I’ve done a spell and it’s gone wrong!” Hermione tried her best to corral them back to the table, but then Lavender and Parvati were out of their seats like a shot, shouldering each other out of the way as they headed in Malfoys direction.

The students in Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw began to chatter and gawk, staring the spectacle with gaping mouths. Slytherin hadn’t really noticed, they seemed to be mainly glancing at Draco suspiciously, that was until Seamus broke into a run from the Gryffindor group, barely reaching Draco before the girls. He leaned down and spoke urgently in Malfoys’ ear, before he even registered, he was there.

“What? No, I don’t want to go on a date with you Finnegan! However much you think you are the-the-the fuck of the Irish!” Malfoy shouted, stuttering his reply, his eyes wide as his panicked voice filled the whole hall. He was barely able to rise from his seat and shove Seamus away before Neville and Harry began aggressively pushing each other aside in order to get to him first. 

Romilda Vane took the chance to crawl through their legs and under the table towards Draco, who yipped and jumped from his seat in the most girlish way after finding her at his feet.

Hermione held her mouth closed with her hand to stop hysterical laughter from pouring out. She knew it was all her fault but was like watching a train wreck happening before her eyes and she was mesmerised by the chaos.

“Enough!” Professor Snape slammed his fist on the teachers dining table, upsetting some goblets and creating instant silence in the hall. “That is enough of this ridiculousness for this evening! This is a refectory, _not _a shrine to worship Mr. Malfoy! All Gryffindor students will return to their dormitories immediately or you will find your house points in extreme deficit for the rest of the year, with no visits to Hogsmeade! At. All.” He enunciated the last two words.

Everyone stopped and Hermione sighed in relief. Draco took a few panicked breaths, staring at Hermione who was now alone at the Gryffindor table, lifting his hand and pointing two fingers at his eyes, then turning them and pointing them at her. He mouthed, “I’m watching you,” with a sinister glare.

As the Gryffindor students turned to leave the hall, Draco ran, his long legs beating them to the entrance but creating a frenzied bottleneck in the exiting students who began to race after him.

Snape speedily strode the length of the hall after them, bellowing in the hallway outside the large lunette doors. “Go to bed now! If I find just one of you have not returned to your dorm this instant, I will give them detention for the whole year!”

On his way back he raised an eyebrow at Hermione and stalked over to her, his cloak ballooning behind him as he came to a halt. He leaned his head down to her ear so only she could hear his low voice. “In all my years of teaching at Hogwarts I have _never_ seen such ill behaviour in the great hall during dinner. If I find out you had anything to do with this, Miss Granger, I will not hesitate to have you removed from this school. Am I understood?”

“Yes, s-sir.” She stammered, grabbing her books as she left, her shoes clattering on the stone floor as the rest of the students in the hall began to chatter loudly amongst themselves.

“Shit, shit, shit!" She muttered on her way back to the dorm, uttering the password— tapeworm—to the fat lady, who was tutting at her and frowning as she allowed her entry, no doubt also annoyed by the pandemonium.

The common room was in chaos when she arrived, with students making things out of crafts as they told each other excitedly about what gifts they were going to send Malfoy. Two fifth year boys were fighting the corner and a gang of girls were struggling with a copy of Witch Weekly displaying Draco on the cover, the paper ripping as their hands grappled each other for it. Katie Bell won the battle, running to her dorm room as the others threatened to break down the door, with Ginny getting her wand and sending hexes at the other girls who luckily ducked in time.

Seamus and Dean wore green beauty masks, relaxing on the sofa, and Lavender was charming Lee Jordan’s hair to platinum blonde.

“I know Draco will love it if our hair’s the same.” Lee said to Lavender with a grin.

“You don’t stand a chance, Jordan, you don’t have the gorgeous long locks I have, but keep telling yourself that.” She sniped back, glowering and turning his hair an odd shade of magenta which caused Lee to rush away shrieking when he saw the outcome of her work in a handheld mirror.

Ron was the only one sitting alone, his face tear streaked and Harry was ignoring him, smiling inanely as he watched the fire. They’d clearly had a falling out.

Hermione felt terrible about the whole thing and wondered how just one boy could cause so much contention between house members who usually got along so well.

She began to usher them all to bed, “Come on now, time to go to bed, you heard what Snape said, and Malfoy will still be there in the morning. You need to look your best for him, don’t you? You all need your beauty sleep.”

This did the trick for most and they heartily agreed. Harry headed to his room, barely registering her with an idiotic grin on his face and only Ron was left in the corner, looking terribly sad. She walked over to give him a hug and send him to bed.

“He wouldn’t look at me, Hermione! He just sneered at me like I was nothing. I need to find a way to make him love me. I love him, I know I’ll always love him.” Ron trembled; his eyes red and face, blotchy.

Hermione lifted a hand and brushed his hair from his eyes, “Anyone would be lucky to have you.” She kissed his cheek, smoothing the tears away and stroking his brow. She thought it would hurt, Ron being fixated on someone else, but strangely it didn’t and she realised it wasn't just because he was obsessed with somebody he couldn’t have, it was because she didn’t really think of him in the way she once thought she did. She felt a jolt to her gut at that realisation, but it was a relief in some ways.

What was more shocking to her, was the fact she knew she agreed with the opinions of others earlier as they described Malfoy. His eyes were mercurial, like in science lessons back in her muggle primary school, where they described mercury as volatile and temperamental. Quicksilver, that’s what they called it and the term suited Malfoy to a tee. She imagined just being with someone like him would feel like falling into a vat of fluctuating liquid which gilded your whole body and was yet a deadly element to handle.

She saw Ron to bed and headed to her dorm room, finding her roommates all gathered around the window, staring up at the moon.

“I wonder if he’s watching the moon right now.” Lavender sighed dramatically, her head rested on one hand as she leaned on the window sill. 

“He always watches the stars, I know he does, he looks up at the Draconis constellation, his one.” Parvati hankered, pointing in totally the wrong direction for Draconis.

“I’m sure he’s asleep and that’s what he’d want for you, he'd want you to take care of yourselves for him." Hermione commented, looking up to the moon herself and her heart jolted as she wondered if he really was doing as they thought right at this moment. She'd never been a sucker for romantic notions like other girls, but she couldn't help but get caught up in their sentiment. That was all it was, nothing else and she cut of any further thought’s dead, because thinking about him was playing a dangerous game, one where she was liable to get hurt. He would never want her like that, he was Draco bloody Malfoy, pureblood, prejudiced bully, destined for a life in the upper echelons of wizarding society.

The two girls shoved past her and jumped into bed and Hermione grabbed her books to head to the library, hoping not to be caught out of bed after curfew.

xxxxxxxxxxxxx

Hermione was forlorn, she knew she'd have no option but to go to McGonagall if she couldn't brew a reversal potion. Nobody in her house was in a fit state to help her and the only person who was capable of helping her had informed her of his distain for the idea immediately. It was hard to admit but Draco was her first choice, literally just behind her in grades, especially in potions and he would be her greatest help, if only she could get him to help, that was.

She thought about approaching Draco again. Perhaps he was even more sick of the amorous Gryffindors by now? The only class they shared that day had been with Flitwick and he dismissed the class after twenty minutes, as all eyes were on Malfoy, not just the Gryffindors, but the other houses stared and waited for the next hilarious event to occur.

Draco was miserable at first, but after a while he was almost snarling at all onlookers. Ron was crying by her side and she realised he was the closest to her when she cast the spell, so of course he would feel strongest for Malfoy. What a fool she'd been! She cast an eye over to Cormac McLaggen while rubbing Ron's back and found him staring at her, glancing at Malfoy occasionally, but mainly nonplussed by the situation. So, perhaps there was a range? It wasn't quite as bad as she thought, perhaps they hadn't all been affected? Or some less than others?

She approached Cormac as they left the class. "Might we have a word?" Tugging at his sleeve she drew him into a nook near the classroom. 

"Of course, Hermione." He looked over her shoulder but then back to her face, smiling congenially.

"Well, you know there’s this problem with everyone fancying Malfoy?"

"Yeah, hard to miss isn't it? Dire, it is, dire." His pupils dilated and she knew he wasn't looking at her but staring over her head. Then she felt a large hand land on her shoulder, spinning her around. 

"McLaggen, I think I asked you to do my charms homework, did I not?" Malfoy growled.

"Oh, you did, Draco dearest, I was going to ask Hermione to help me, because I knew it would be perfect for you then." He grinned.

So much for that idea, Hermione thought. Great, what now?

"Tootle along then McLaggen, Granger and I have things to discuss." Malfoy flicked him away with an irritated look.

Cormac’s smile faded and he pushed Hermione aside to get to Malfoy. "You've chosen her over me! You told me you'd see me later, you said there was no other Gryffindor for you!"

Malfoy groaned as inconspicuously as possible. "And I will, McLaggen, you have nothing to concern yourself with here, now move along, I just need to ask Granger something." He said calmly, but Hermione could see he was frazzled as even his usually well coffered hair was sticking up from where he’d been running his hands through it.

Cormac beamed at Malfoy but then turned to shoot Hermione a foul look. She repressed the urge to poke her tongue out at him.

"Salazar’s hairy bollocks, you were just about to ask that tosser for help, weren't you? He was only the third person today to invite me into that broom cupboard for, and I quote, ‘a little morning delight’ What the hell were you thinking?" He points at the broom cupboard with his arm outstretched and she cringed with embarrassment, mostly for herself but actually a little for him too, this is everyone’s worst nightmare. Or perhaps it wasn’t? Many blokes might have taken advantage of the situation to at least sleep with every girl who offered herself to him. Strangely he hadn’t, she mused. 

"I just thought the spell hadn't spread so widely, you know, when he didn't have his eyes on you the whole time in class, he was sat at the end of the table last night, it was a sensible deduction!"

"A sensible—!" Draco spluttered, throwing his arms up in the air, "If you actually had an ounce of common sense in that oversized brain of yours, you might've realised that casting a spell in a whole hall of students and fucking teachers was ill advised!" He walked several paces away, fluffing his hair with both hands and returning red faced and furious.

He looked glorious, she thought, flushed and beautiful. Christ, Hermione, snap out of it, she told herself. She bit her lip, feeling hot and fingered her collar, glancing up at him as he moved closer, so close she could feel his breath fanning over her face as he spoke. He smelled of mint with a vague hint of fresh apple.

"I’ll bloody help you, but if your eyes keep doing that then I'll bloody report you to Snape."

"W-what? If my eyes keep doing what?" She had no idea what he meant. Her eyes were perfectly fine, thank you very much.

"Just forget it! Get your books, run along like a good little Gryffindor princess and tell McGonagall you're ill so you can come with me, I'll meet you at the seventh-floor staircase." 

She stared at him, her mouth opening and closing like a cod fish. 

He stared at her for a moment, his eyes flicked to hers once more, like he was trying to decipher something. "Go now, before I change my mind!" He tutted, turning and shooing away a few first year Gryffindor’s who were loitering to ask for his autograph.

xxxxxxx

Hermione spotted the familiar tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy's foolish attempt to train trolls for the ballet and she knew exactly where they were headed. 

"I'm surprised you know about this." She mentioned, racing to keep up with his long strides.

"I'm a Malfoy, aren't I? Also, I waited outside this very room for you lot last year with Filch if you remember? There's a staircase leading here from the dungeons. I think you'll find there are very few things I don't know about Hogwarts, after all, my family have been attending this school since the fourteenth century."

He didn’t seem his usual haughty self about it, Hermione noted, he was just talking, and she wondered if he'd warmed to her a little. He wandered around for a few minutes until familiar door appeared.

"After you." He held his hand out politely, his other hand landed on the base of her spine and she felt a slight shiver course through her body at his touch.

Hermione nodded, heading inside and finding a bedroom to her horror. "I don't know what you think this is, Malfoy, but I was expecting a potions lab, not some place you bring your whores!" She went to shove past him, but the door had vanished. He turned to see what she saw and is stock still in shock.

"Contrary to popular belief, I don't engage," he cleared his throat, "I would never bring a lady—" He moved his hand through his hair and rested it on the nape of his neck. "This isn't what we require! It's supposed to give us what we need, a bloody potions lab so we can stop me being chased down by every Gryffindor who has an amorous whim to do so."

Hermione gulped, realising the room was giving them what it believed they needed. Chewing on the nail of her forefinger, she said, "Perhaps if we were to ask outright for a potions lab?" She released her nail and bit her lower lip, looking up to him questioningly.

"Don't do that." He groaned.

Having no idea what he's talking about she peered at her nails, "I know it’s an awful habit, I do it when I'm nervous."

"No! Not that, the lip thing." He looked at the bed and then at the stone ceiling, then to the floor. Hermione wondered what the hell was wrong with him. Did he just hate to be alone with someone he considers to be a filthy mudblood?

"Does it affect your delicate sensibilities? Being alone with someone with dirty blood?" She choked back the raw itch in her throat that indicated tears were on the way.

He growled, turning to where the door disappeared, slapping his hands against the stone. "We need a potions lab." He speaks clearly and instantly a fire lights up in the grate, illuminating the room and a table set for a late breakfast. Hermione’s stomach grumbled in response.

"It's you! Just eat and sleep so we can get out of here!" He snarled, pushing her gently in the direction of the table, even though his tone wasn't gentle.

"I'll have you know, I spent the whole night researching the spell, I'm exhausted and I'm hungry and I'm sorry if that caused this, I'm sorry if I chose the wrong time to do the spell and I'm sorry your bloody ego has been inflated to ten times the size it was before! I'm sorry they all see what I see!" She flinched at what she unwittingly said and stormed to the table, shovelling down a spoonful of scrambled eggs and a bite of toast, before rushing to the bed, her shoulders quivering as she pulled the coverlet over her head, tired tears beginning in earnest.

"Please don't!" He says rather uncharacteristically. "I don't want you to give yourself indigestion, you shouldn't lay down so quickly after eating." He moved towards the mound in the bed, hovering over her and rubbing his jaw, unsure what to say to make things better.

"I'm trying to sleep so we can leave." She choked from beneath the covers.

He sat tentatively beside her, taking a large inhale of breath. "Granger, look—I didn't mean it like that, I had no intention of you making yourself sick to help us. Anyway, you hardly ate anything." He paused, awaiting a response. "Err, would you—ahem-would you do me the honour of joining me for some food and then you can rest?"

She didn't move for a moment, thinking of what to do for the best, before popping her head out from under the quilt. "I'm still hungry, so, um, maybe I should eat?"

Draco shook his head and rolled his eyes with a reluctant smile. "There's loads, we can feast until we can't take anymore and then you can sleep. I'm pretty tired myself, I stared at the moon for a few hours last night, trying to work out what happened, then I lay awake for hours, wondering if you did it on purpose."

"I didn't, it was a mistake, I promise—"

"I know it was," he interjected, "because I know you well enough to realise you're not that kind of girl, not vindictive like some of the others. Do you know what drew me to that conclusion?"

She sat up and swung her legs to the edge of the bed, shaking her head but not looking at him.

"It was because you'd never do that to your friends. I might've been more suspicious if Potter and Weasley were unaffected, but because Potter left me a box from Honeydukes outside the dorm after I shouted at you this morning and hiding around the corner to check I saw it before blowing me a kiss, I knew then it wasn't malicious on your part." 

A tiny smile curled the edges of Hermione’s lips, she knew not to push it as Malfoy was barely being civil and it could be much worse if she laughed, she’d already been on the receiving end of his wrath more than once in the past day. "That must've been weird?" 

"It was excruciatingly embarrassing. Luckily I was interrupted by two fourth year girls who rushed up and gave me dragons they'd made out of paper and enchanted to fly in my hand. If you ever tell anyone I said this I’ll hex you, but it was quite nice to receive so much female attention, it's been a while."

Hermione found herself rising to her feet, somehow eager to talk further with this version of Malfoy who was showing kindness and an insight into his life she never thought he was capable of. "I watched them making the dragons last night while I tried the tame the chaos you'd caused—"

"It wasn't really me though, was it, Granger?"

"No, I mean me, of course, but the girls were so excited to make you something, I suppose they thought you'd like a Dragon, you know, because of your name." 

Draco nodded, walking slowly with her towards the table and taking a seat when she did. He hesitated at the back of her chair for a moment, undecided as to whether he should pull it out for her but decided against it. This wasn't a society lunch.

"I felt so guilty when I sent them to bed. I told them they'd see you in the morning and they needed their beauty sleep." She chuckled.

"They could have all the beauty sleep they wanted, but I only have eyes for one girl, I suppose I always have." His eyes were molten and trained on Hermione as she took some sausages and bacon, placing the items on her plate and snatching some toast.

"I've heard purebloods marry young. I suppose your parents had you earmarked for someone since you were tiny." She speared a sausage and took a hearty bite, glancing up at him. "Mmm, these are gorgeous."

Draco shifted in his seat, licking his lips and staring at her mouth, to all of which, she was oblivious.

"So, who is it? Pansy Parkinson? She always seemed to be hanging off your arm last year,” She thought a bit more and pointed her half-devoured sausage at him, "or Daphne Greengrass, you always seemed to hang around with her? But, um, you haven't been sitting with them this year, actually not with anyone I noticed." She looked up expectantly and then down at his hands as he clenched his fists before releasing them again, his eyes on the table and a scowl on his face.

"Neither of them, they're friends, and to be honest I think Pansy has a bit of thing for Weasley, she'd never admit it thought, she generally calls the family pureblood traitors."

"I never thought she'd fancy Ron." Hermione giggled.

"No, I mean Ginny, it’s Ginny Weasley I see her preoccupied with." He replied with an impish smile. "What I wouldn't give to see—"

Hermione reached over before she realised what she was doing and slapped his arm like she might do to Harry or Ron. She reprimanded him, her face flushed. "That's so bloody male, Gods you're such a prick, as if they'd want you lot peering at them if they got together."

"I'll have you know I'm a normal male with healthy urges, but those two—"

"Draco Malfoy, I can't believe your mind is a rubbish dump, not when you're so intelligent." She stopped him, colouring red when she noticed how she'd commented.

"Granger, I think you'll find men throughout the wizarding world have fantasies about two women together, I know it's misogynistic but there's just something about two girls together which fuels the bank."

"The bank?" Hermione’s cheeks were almost puce. She had close male friends, but they've never been this honest with her about their sexual feelings, ever.

"The wank-bank." Draco flicks his fingers, dismissing the conversation "but it's only fodder, I don't want a threesome or anything, it's just the thought of girls together that turns me on a bit." 

Hermione stopped eating and wondered how the conversation had turned in a sexual direction so quickly, she was no prude, but its slightly uncomfortable talking to him about something so personal. She felt his eyes on her as she pushed the remains of her egg around her plate. 

"I see girls in the shower all the time and I don't feel that way. I think Ginny likes Harry, but she's different, she's more open with her body. Perhaps Pansy might stand a chance?" 

"Only time will tell." He replied. "So, how about you?" He leaned back in his chair nonchalantly, giving her a wicked smirk.

Hermione flinched, she had an inkling the conversation was heading this way and it seemed to be getting a little out of hand. She knew the question she dreaded was coming. 

"Who feeds your bank, Granger? One of the Weasleys? McLaggen?" 

"No! None of them!" She protested.

"Potter, then?"

"Godrick, no! Harry, Ron and I are friends, just friends. I once thought, um, you know with Ron, but I think it was a passing fancy." She admitted.

They were silent and Hermione relived every little fantasy she'd had in her mind, trying to pinpoint anything that would be safe to tell him, somehow a visual of Draco kept nudging his way into her head. "Victor is the only person I've ever kissed, he, err, he touched me a bit, um, upstairs only, you probably think it's stupid for me to be sixteen and to be untouched, you know, like that?"

Draco was on tenterhooks, he never thought the day would come when he'd be in the same room as Hermione Granger, let alone hearing her deepest, darkest secrets. "No, not at all, sex isn't all it's cracked up to be, especially the first time, but do go on." He urged her.

"Well I've thought about—about—um, you, I've wondered what it might be like to be with the Slytherin sex god." She hid her face in her hands, whining, "I can't believe I just said that!"

Draco chuckled but he couldn't believe it. Hermione Granger, Gryffindor goody-two-shoes had admitted she fantasied about him while flicking her bean, well, not in so many words, but it was close enough for him.

"Oh Merlin, I need to leave! I can't stay here, you've put me under some spell! You've slipped Veritaserum into my food!" She rushed to the wall where the door had been. 

"Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but no, I haven't done anything of the sort." He retorted with a dramatic sigh. He watched her shoulders shake as she slapped at the wall, looking for a way out.

"Please don't tell anybody I said that. I've said more than I should, I'm not bad, if you let me out Malfoy I promise I'll do anything to make things better, I'll admit everything to Dumbledore if I have to, just don't let Harry and Ron know!"

"Granger, you seem to be under the impression it's me keeping you here, and I assure you, I'm many things but I'm not a liar or a kidnapper. I would never hold you here against your will. This room has us at its mercy because it feels we need to resolve something, it’s usually it's way. " He placed a sweaty palm tentatively on her shoulder, his other hand clutched tight as he tried to hold his emotions inside.

"Draco! I don't know what it wants and I'm so tired, I just need to rest." 

She turned and threw herself into his arms and he barely had a choice but to hold her close as she wound her arms around his waist and sobbed into his chest. He knew holding her was what he'd always wanted, but not like this, not while she was exhausted and afraid. He was aware she called him by his given name, and the sound of it coming from her mouth is like elixir to soothe the soul. "Come on now, lie down and sleep, I swear there's nothing in here that will harm you." He urged her back under the covers and wondered if he should've just left her there in the first place, it would've been easier somehow.

xxxxxxx

The fire had died down by the time Hermione woke, and she turned to find Malfoy asleep on the very edge of the opposite side of the bed, his back resting awkwardly against the headboard and the post beside him, one leg balanced along the edge of the mattress and the other propped up by his foot on the floor. She scrubbed at her face with both hands and lifted the cover, noticing an evening meal had replaced the earlier brunch. 

Returning to the wall, she remembered how she'd thought this whole thing was her punishment for casting the spell and she blushed at the way she'd sought solace in his arms, Malfoys arms of all people! The heat of embarrassment caused her heart to race with something she couldn’t place. It was nice to be in his arms, her childhood bully and she wondered if she'd lost her mind.

The room was cosy; it's glow, a balm that eased the tension in her shoulders. So many things had happened over the past few years she wondered if she would ever find peace here at Hogwarts again. Exciting as this all was, what if they were trapped there forever and could never escape? She just hated not to know what the room required of them both.

Hermione wandered to the table, her fingertips drifting over the crystal cut glasses and noticed ruby-red wine in the carafe. The firelight glinted over the fine cut glass and she thought it quite romantic, the kind of meal a girl might enjoy with her lover. Oh Merlin, she wondered if that was what was expected of them, like some kind of payback for what she'd done, that she was expected to make it up to him by doing ‘it’ with him. Although that didn't sound so bad, she wasn't ready for something like that, they were barely on speaking terms.

Draco shifted in his sleep, feeling the hard wood of the four-poster bed against his back, the bare remnants of his dream testing his psyche as he drifted towards wakefulness.

Helga Hufflepuff floated wearing a golden dress and holding her wand out before her.

_"You know why you're here, and it's not because of the girl is it Draco?_"

He feels like he can’t speak, he wants to, but his mouth is sealed closed.

_"You're here to make amends. She's given you the opportunity and her mistake has driven you together, but you'll only leave this room once you address your wrongdoings and your secrets, she must truly forgive you, she must trust you for you both to leave, my boy, or you'll remain here forever. She, young Malfoy, is not the problem, you are."_

Draco woke with a start and a crick in his neck, feeling grumpy from the uncomfortable afternoon nap and his strange nightmare which was hijacked by a founder of Hogwarts. He had no idea why the old witch even entered his thoughts, but if her words were to be believed, he was in a shit load of trouble. He couldn’t think of spilling his guts to Granger, however much he might want to, there were things—things she just couldn’t know, and he was endangering her by even contemplating telling her anything at all.

He watched Granger drifting aimlessly through gritty eyes, like some nymph, trailing her fingers over the furniture and murmuring a sweet song to herself. He thought she looked happy, relaxed and almost carefree, and that was something new. Usually her brow was furrowed, her eyes filled with fire and ready for the fight when Draco was in her orbit, after all, she’d socked him in the nose in third year. He couldn’t help but like this personification of her, much like he’d enjoyed her pretty blushes as they’d ventured into territory unfit for any usual conversation between them earlier.

He couldn’t think what had possessed him to ask her about her sexual conquests of all things, but once the conversation began, he’d become ever more intrigued by this small part of her life. She wasn’t a traditional beauty, but she was beautiful and there had always been something there on his part and he knew he would've asked her out if she'd been pureblood, alas she wasn't. He'd been a git to her all these years because he wanted a reaction from her. He hated the fact the only way to do that as a Malfoy was by hurting her. He felt a possessive tug at his chest when he thought of the flying Bulgarian baboon touching her like that, his large hands on her chest as he snogged her. He knew he wanted to be the one to show her how the sexual world worked, but he everything he touched turned to dust and he feared he would drag her down with him if he admitted how he felt about her. Instead, he exploited his grumpy feelings and ruined the charming scene before him.

“Feeling better now are you Granger? Well, perhaps now we can actually get to work. I think you need to know that the reason we’re stuck here is because I need to admit how much of a twat I’ve been to you. So, let’s get started, shall we?” He sauntered over to the table, grabbing the carafe and pouring himself a glass of wine. He took little satisfaction in the look on her face as her dreamy spell broke and he plonked himself into a chair, certain that what he was about to say would remind her of every nasty thing he’d ever done to her.

Throwing back the wine, he poured her a glass and then himself another. She peered at the meal of roast beef and Yorkshire pudding and then up at him, her eyes slitted.

“But, how do you know that’s the reason?” She asked suspiciously.

“I had a dream, and I don’t dream, Granger. So, when Helga sodding Hufflepuff appears to you while you’re asleep in the room of requirement, you pay attention. Are you ready for me to remind you of all the shitty things I’ve done to you?” Draco retorted unkindly, his voice intense, like it had been when he bullied her in the past.

She stared at the plate and her hand tremored briefly. Steeling herself, she looks up at him, her chin tilted in defiance. “You’re so changeable, I should’ve known you’d do this. If I didn’t know how much of a wanker you could be, I’d think you have a hormone problem.” She sneered but her face drops after she says it, seeing the look of shock written on his face.

“I’ll admit I’ve been a wanker, as you state, but you’ve been a bitch too.” He responded.

“I have never been a bitch to you! I don’t work that way.”

“Oh, yeah? Had me cowering at the end of your wand though, didn’t you? Before you punched me.”

“You snivelled like a baby and I’m not sorry, not after what you said and did!” She fired back, standing up and smashing her palms onto the table, “He was an innocent creature and you whined and had your father arrange for him to be slaughtered!”

“Innocent, my arse, the bloody overgrown chicken nearly trampled me!” Draco’s eyes danced with mirth, it was hardly anything new for him to rile Granger and she was so resplendent when she was angry it was hardly a chore. He watched her deflate, once she realised he was goading her. She was many things but stupid certainly was not one of them.

“I’m not a bitch,” She muttered, “I just have an ingrained hatred of animals and creatures being hurt, along with those who can’t stand up for themselves.”

“What were we to do? Take Buckbeak for trial at the Wizangamot?” He queried comically.

This did not go down well as Hermione was still peeved. “You know his name then? So, perhaps you should’ve thought more about your actions? I’ll forgive you for everything if it gets me out of this room, I know you come from a background which doesn’t care much for creatures you deem lesser than yourself, I know you’re prejudiced against mud—”

“Don’t say that about yourself!” He stopped her. “Fuck, it’s like you want to be known as a mudblood!” His demeanour changed and he scowled at her. “Is that what you want? For me to go on forever calling you that, just so you have some justification to hate me. I dont—I don’t want to hate you, Granger, I—bugger, I don’t know what I want, but I don’t want to be hated. Everyone in my house loathes me, or is afraid of me but you were never afraid of me, that’s why I always liked you.”

Her face changes and wonder flashes across her features. Her lips move silently as if she’s trying to reason with herself. “Do you hate me or not? Because what you’re saying isn’t making any sense, you’ve done so many things to make me hate you and being here with you, seeing a different side of you is refreshing. But, Malfoy, if you’re playing me I will do things to you that will make my accidental love spell look like a walk in the grounds, I’ll turn you into a ferret for life and keep you in a jar like I did with—” She stops herself just in time before she admits one of her worse crimes.

“You did with?” He urges her.

“Alright, touché, I found out Rita Skeeter was an Animagus, I trapped her and kept her in a jar for a year as penance for being a pain in my arse.”

Draco leaned back and bellowed with laughter. “You’re telling me you kept Skeeter in a jar for a year? That’s classic! The stupid cow did an article for Witch Weekly last year when my father went to Azkaban and plastered my face all over the front page. I wish I'd thought of that.”

“Yes, I became privy to that issue when the whole off Gryffindor were fighting over it last night. I hadn’t seen it before but there were hexes sent and girls crying, it was a mess.” She lowered her head. “I apologise for the spell, I just wanted to give my house a good night, I never intended to look at you when I cast it. You just looked so—so broken and I-I couldn’t help but see some beauty in that, but not maliciously. It was wrong and I apologise again, Malfoy.” She said quietly, staring at her fingers as she clasped them together anxiously.

Draco sat back and let out a deep breath. “I think we’re even, Granger. Whatever happened between us can’t be as bad as what I have to—” He realised he’d made a mistake when her head shot up and the tension built between them as he cursed his stupidity.

“What do you have to do?” She demanded, lowering her voice as she saw his look of terror. “I mean, is it bad? I’m sorry, you can tell me and I’ll try to help you, I promise.”

Draco tried to read her, he knew the three were desperate to know what he was up to as Potter had been following him since the beginning of term and he was about as subtle as a sledgehammer. “I can’t tell you.” He pursed his lips. “Even if I wanted to, I couldn’t, it would put you in danger.”

“From you?” She asked outright.

“No, Granger, not from me, never from me. Let’s say—from outside influences.”

“Is it from him? You don’t have to say his name, but is he making you do something?” Voldemort was who she meant but she wouldn’t say the bastards name out loud.

Draco sighed deeply and placed his head in hands, elbows on the table, the uneaten dinner left to spoil as he placed his head in his hands. “Why do you have to be so bloody meddlesome?” He groaned, “You know you’re putting me in an impossible position? Don’t you know how hard this is?”

She stood immediately and rushed to his side, placing a hand on his shoulder. “Now I know why you were so enraged when I did the accidental spell! You’re here at his bidding and you didn’t want the attention. Tell me right now what you’re up to!” She demanded.

Draco stood swiftly, knocking Hermione back onto her haunches and rushed to the wall, slamming his fist into it, “Let me out of here!” He roared, “Please, just let me go!” He dissolved into tears, beating his hands against the wall as he slid to the floor.

She sat and watched him for a moment and her eyes softened as he curled up like a child, sobbing. It all made sense. She’d expected him to be annoyed, hell, she’d expected every bit of his wrath for what she did, but she never expected this revalation. She hesitantly moved closer, sinking down and pulling his head onto her lap. She whispered to him, “It’ll be alright, I promise, we can sort this out between us, hush now.”

He buried his head in her lap, his nose against her stomach and let her comfort him. It felt good to have someone care for him, it had been so long since he’d hugged his mother or felt a woman’s touch. Hermione couldn’t understand the terrible task he’d been charged with and he could never say what it was. The witch was exceptional, she was everything he ever thought she would be, kind and understanding, someone a person could go to in their darkest hour. Then he realised what he’d said, what he’d done, he’d almost told the enemy the Dark Lord’s plan for him. Helga Hufflepuff told him in his dream he had to trust and tell Hermione everything, but his dream might’ve been a rouse and he couldn’t trust it, just like he couldn’t trust Granger.

The thought almost slapped him in the face, and he shot away from her, his elbow knocking her face and startling her. She looked distressed as she touched her face and stared at him once more like she didn’t know who he was. The time they’d spent together had given them a small understanding of each other and he’d ruined that by an ill-timed movement.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to hurt you.” He got to his feet as she held her face and rushed away.

“I shouldn’t have got so close, I knew you’d do this. I must admit I didn’t expect to be struck, but I suppose its tit for tat.” She pursed her lips, looking distressed.

“No, please, I didn’t do it deliberately, I would never—”

“You would never hurt me?” She interrupted. “Actually, it’s all you’ve ever done. You’ve tripped me, made me feel inferior and encouraged your friends to do the same. I don’t know why I trusted you, you’re a lost cause, I don’t know why I thought otherwise.” She headed to the bed and pulled the covers over her head. “I’m going to sleep, and I hope you find the floor comfortable, because I don’t want you near me!”

He stood above the quivering lump under the blankets and watched her for a moment, “I’m sorry, that was truly an accident.” He said, heading back to the table and shakily pouring himself another glass of wine, placing his legs on top of the table, deliberately changing his demeanour to his usual self-protective arrogance. “I don’t know why you ever thought differently, Granger. I’m never going to change your mind. You think I’m a monster who would calculatingly injure a girl when they’re trying to comfort him, don’t you? And, do you know what? I barely have the energy to have this argument. The one thing I will say, is that’s not me, I would never lay a finger on a woman.”

“Now.” She said, her voice muffled under the covers.

“I’m sorry?” He queries looking bewildered.

She sits up and looks him in the eye. “Right now, you wouldn’t, and yes, I agree, perhaps I was in the wrong place at the wrong time a moment ago, but when he asks you to do something, then what? Where is your chivalry then? Because if he decides to make you do it, then you won’t have the choice to be a gallant. I know this after what happened with Harry in the graveyard, when Pettigrew had no choice but to do his bidding and kill Cedric, I don’t think you’ll have any choice either.”

Draco almost spilled his wine, his face agog as she relayed exactly what he knew had happened, he'd heard it from his own father’s lips.

“Have you taken the mark? Because that’s why Harry has been following you, that’s why your own house is afraid of you! Draco Malfoy, I can’t tell you how devastated I’ll be if you pull your sleeve up and show me the power that megalomaniac has over you! So just do it!” Hermione was on her feet and striding towards him, “Show me it now!”

Draco gulped and looked at the cuff of his shirt hidden under the grey jumper every house wore below their robes. He almost felt the snake coil around the skull on the tattoo and his irritated skin itched. He spoke hoarsely, “If I show you this, then you’ll be in more danger than ever.”

She moved closer, looking subdued, “Only if you tell anyone.” She said gently.

He felt her eyes on him as he stared at the cuff of his sleeve, it would only take a moment to release the button on his shirt and pull it back. He felt vulnerable. “If I show you, things will never be the same between us.”

“Then what do you want from me, Draco?”

She’d said his name—his name—he wasn’t just Malfoy, he was Draco, him, and that gave him courage. A shot of hope wriggled through the anxiety which gripped his chest. “I—” he gulped, “I want you; I’ve always wanted you.” He said quietly, looking up hopefully at her, his grey eyes desperate. “But if I show you this, you’ll never want me.”

“That’s not true, but I have to know! Whatever happens, if you want me, you need to swear you won’t do his bidding, Draco, I have to know you’ll do everything you can to be with me, to fight for the side of good.” She dips her head and plants a kiss to his temple. “Show me.” She whispers, sinking to her knees beside him and placing her hand in his.

He hated this, showing the worst thing that ever happened to him to someone he always thought of as so pure, but he does it anyway, he clasps her hand and pulls back his sleeve.

Hermione gasps, but to her credit, its only a small inhale. “Right.” She nodded as if trying to accustom herself to the mark he knows she thinks of as disgusting. It looks stark against his pale arm, but when she placed her hand over it, his arm felt warm and human, she didn't feel the darkness she expected.

Draco felt the same when she touched him, heat from human touch.

“Do you really think our blood is so different? All blood runs red, Draco, surely you must know that?”

“Granger—Hermione, you must know I don’t by now. My fathers ideologies, the Dark Lord’s, they aren’t mine, they’ll never be me, I’m sorry it took so long for me to realise it but I’ve been trapped and whether or not I’ve changed, makes no difference now. They’ll kill my mother if I don’t kill Dumbledore, my father’s imprisonment saw to that.”

Hermione smothered her mouth to hold back a sob and she squeezed his hand tightly. “Don’t. Just don’t do it, it doesn’t have to be you, Draco, you’re better than this. Come with me to Dumbledore once we get out of here and we’ll tell him everything. I’ll take you away, I’ll make you safe. The Order—”

“Yeah, I’ve heard about the Order, Hermione,” he gives a wry smile, “my mother’s cousin died for them at the hand of my aunt, she boasted about it over the summer.”

Hermione’s face dropped, but she seemed to steel herself. “If you were there, would you have tried to kill me?”

“Never!” He blurted, “I don’t think even my father’s heart was in it that night, he didn’t want to fight children, I’m not sure he thought it would come to this, I know my mother doesn’t want the Dark Lord in our house but she has little choice, because he’s invaded our lives.”

She moved to stand before him, “If I help you, can I trust you’ll follow it through? I can’t approach anyone for help for you and your mother if you don’t do this. We can have Dumbledore request your mother’s presence at the school, say you’ve been in trouble, a fight or some such lie, then we can arrange a safe house from there.”

Draco ponders it for a moment, staring at the Dark Mark and he lifts his head, amber eyes meeting light grey. “You can trust in me always, Hermione.” He gripped her hand and pulled her closer.

Their lips were a bear inch apart, both breathing heavily when the door to the room appeared and Harry slammed through, only his head visible over his cloak.

“Jesus, Hermione, I thought something bad had happened to you when you disappeared from the map! Everyone in Gryffindor forgot what they did for that last forty-eight hours and only came to this morning, some couldn’t work out why they had pictures of Malfoy posted above their bed and I couldn’t find you until I came here.” He rushed forward, clocking Malfoy in the process. He whipped out his wand, pointing it at him, his eyes dark and his glasses glinting in the firelight as he stared at his sworn enemy.

Hermione stepped in front of Draco and said to Harry. “I think we need to talk.” She turned and smiled at Draco, tipping him a sultry wink as she followed Harry outside and Draco let out a long breath, thanking Circe for her intervention.

Whatever was said outside the room of requirement that night, turned the tide of a future war. Draco and his mother revealed secrets the Order would never have known without them.

Hermione helped Draco through the fallout of her spell and apologised to everyone, but he was forgiven more easily than he expected. There was a reason for this. As much as they couldn’t admit it, some small part of every Gryffindor present at Hogwarts during those years loved Draco Malfoy from that day on. Perhaps one more than the others…


End file.
